Your name is Jack Noir.

You frown in unconcealed distaste as you consider the prospect of the dire situation that you have landed yourself in. Sure, ordering minions around, pouring oil all over a disgustingly clean blue planet and generally causing havoc suited you just fine, but it is your employer that sets you off like a rocket about to combust. You cannot stand her faked aristocratic accent (in order to spite the Prospitian Monarches), her horrid habit of smoking extremely elongated cigars, and most of all, the extremely humiliating multicoloured garb that you suspect she chose just to ridicule you. You hate the Black Queen, and that's a fact.

So of course you always blow up after one of her 'routine inspection visits'. You've done your job well, and she rewards you in the infuriating manner that she always does. By giving you yet another harlequined outfit.

You take it out on whatever's next to you afterwards. Most of the time they're those salamanders that were always glubbing, but sometimes it was an unfortunate minion. There was even one time you torched down an entire teal forest. But the destruction doesn't eradicate your fury. It always comes back doubly strong.

God you hate this.

Snapping at a passing minion you hurry it up in its mission with a well-aimed kick to its back, sending the contents of its pail flying all over the landscape. The oil swirls over the dark blue ground like a malevolent blanket, and you like it that way. Seeing the minion nurse the newly-formed bruise on its spine pleases you even more. You wait for it to pick itself up and scurry away to fetch another bucket of oil before allowing yourself a satisfied smile.

You're getting pretty good at all this pollution stuff. It pays very well, and despite your loathing for the Queen this job enabled you to upgrade your form to an appearance very close to that of the Dreamers'. Not to mention the fact that it grants access to something you can add to your collection of regicide equipment. The Black Queen never left her royal skyship enough to discover the hidden source of power that was just waiting to be plundered. You never told her about the turquoise that once lay in Typheus' chamber, the one which granted you access to powers similar to the Dreamer that was Heir to this planet.

And you're just waiting to get assigned to the next. More Sprite Jewels to be stolen, and more powers to aid you in your quest. Who ever said Jack Noir couldn't steal them? No one.

You widen your smile into a sharktoothed grin as you consider the day you would finally have the Black Queen's head. Your fiendishly diabolical plan doesn't end there - you wouldn't stop until the entire Incipisphere quivered before your wrathful form of perfect destruction. No one was going to stop you. Not even those good-for-nothing Dreamers.

All you have to do now is to wait. For now, you'll have to be content with dumping oil all over the Land of Wind and Shade.

It had been such an adventure!

You thought being about to frolic in this kingdom in your dreams was the greatest thing ever, and when they told you about a quest to stop the world from warring and falling into chaos you thought it was a great cause and sure to be much fun. When they told you about going back in time to learn from the questants before you, you thought it was a great learning opportunity as well as an eye opener- you've always wondered what life was like outside the walls of the City, or even better before the walls even came up!

But now you're starting to change your mind a little. What if you can't do it, even with advice from Prospit and help from the Queen? The dangers were perhaps realer than you expected- shady men after poor Casey, great big dragons setting you on fire, pirate attacks. What if you never saw your parents again? What if they were worrying for you back in the present, like poor Astrae was over her renegade son? Dave was blinded, and John grew wings. If nothing else this has been a really surprising trip!

But either way, you're safe here in Prospit (at least your dream self is), and you have something to do.

Skimming the roofs of the golden buildings that constituted most of Prospit, you head down Corona Street and aim the trajectory of your flight down towards the small shop tucked away in the shadow of the great Celestial Arch.

The herbalist looks surprisingly human, her white skin somewhat luminous and showing no signs of her true age. Her golden garb shows no signs of adornment except for a single sun-shaped pin fastening a translucent cloak to her shoulders. "Welcome, dear Dreamer. What brings thee?"

"Oh, I was wondering... if you could help me." You're not so sure if she is up to the task. After all, even Astrae had problems with it... and you're doubtful if you could even bring the antidote to the person who needed it. After all, he wasn't even in the Medium yet. And even if he was, he would never be able to come to Prospit to take it.

"What be thy request?" The herbalist ushers you into her booth. It is quite a quaint place, with various bottles of coloured and transparent liquid arranged on shelves that lined the walls. Bunches of plants hung from the ceilings, and several slabs of strange minerals lurked in the corners. "Come in, Dreamer, lest thy skin blister out in the heat. 'Tis noon, and Skaia's light be unrelenting overhead, yes."

You settle down on an ornately carved chair. "I need an antidote... sorta. My friend, he's been attacked by a strange sort of snake, and the healers up above can't do anything about it just yet. Perhaps you could?"

The herbalist raises her eyebrows. "Thy friend hath been bitten, I take it to be so? What serpent bore the assault?"

"Um... all I know is that it's blue, with strange flower patterns along the skin... I think that was it."

Recognition lights up in her eyes, and she sighs. "Tis the Blue Lotus, a holy creature of Skaia... though why it chose the assault I know not. Prospitians are resistant to its venom, and even in most cases it rarely leaves permanent effects...Dersites are quite suceptile, so I've hear-" The herbalist's expression changes abruptly. "Hast thou been consorting with a Dersite? Leave him, I beseech thee, Dreamer, lest thou be harmed by the agents of the Dark Kingdom!"

"No! Dave's not like that! He's a Dreamer too, and he's a good guy!" You get to your feet, mildly shocked that anyone would think about the possibility of Dave ever harming you. He's a great friend, almost like your big brother, and thanks to this journey he's blinded- why would anyone want to antagonize him, Dersite or not?

"Oh, really? I've never heard of a Prospitian defending a Dersite before, but if he's a Dreamer too..." The herbalist looks sheepish. "I pray I have not offended thou. I will do my best to help- I have never mixed an antidote to its poison before, but I will try... Dost thou need it by a specific date?"

Now that you think about it, Dave did mention... that the poison would kill him. He didn't mention when, though, and you're worried. It's a positively terrifying prospect. Positively. Terrifying. "... well... as soon as you can get it ready, I suppose... as fast as you can! But it has to work, of course, don't mess up just to get it done quicker, alright?"

"It be important to you?"

"... very!" You don't trust your voice enough to speak more than a few words. The dangers of this quest were definitely real.

"Very well. I shall have it delivered to thou at the palace, I trust it to be so?"

"... that would be great... thank you very much!"

"I shall try my best. Thou hast pined, hast thee not?" The herbalist nods, and you are sure your worry has shown because she then proceeds to usher you out of her booth and into the sunlight. You can't really understand her words, but you nod, thinking you do. The lady turns and disappears back into the murky darkness of her shop, and it is at that precise moment your vision is flooded with darkness.

You experience something strange, as if someone is pulling you out from very deep water, and it is with rising panic that you realize your inability to breathe. Then it gets lighter, and lighter -

- and you're suddenly siting up in bed, gasping for air as if you had very nearly suffocated. The curtains are open, and so are the windows, moonlight streaming into the room you share with Rose. There is a movement from the corner of your eye, and you look, promptly giving yourself another shock. John is somehow in your room looking very flustered, and he's saying something rather loudly. Though not loud enough to wake Rose - she's still asleep, the sun-shaped amulet around her neck glowing a faint gold in the semi-darkness. A distinct contrast to a few nights before when she tossed and turned as if sensitive to every minute sound from the surroundings.

You blink once or twice, brain slowly switching on to process what he had been saying.

"... that's it, don't stop looking at me! Gosh, I thought you were going back to sleep or something... Jade?" He peers closely at you. "Have you been... crying in your sleep?"

"Uh, of course not!" You frown at him. "What are you doing in our room anyway?"

"It's Dave, I think he's having nightmares and he won't wake up! I was going to get Rose, but she wouldn't budge either, at least you're awake now!" His urgency is contagious, and you don't bother to get your night slippers on before running after John down the corridor.

The boys' room is just around the corner. The curtains had also been thrown wide open, and the full moon's pale disc shines light into the room. John had left his own bed in similar disarray, but you're too busy being occupied to take in any other details - your friend is more important.

There's something immediately wrong with the atmosphere as you sit down next to his bed. The air is colder, murkier, and there's something in it that sends shivers down your spine. Dave is much calmer now, judging from what John has been telling you, but from the way he had thrown off the sheets, you can infer that something bad is haunting his dreams, just like Rose a few days ago. The moonlight is no longer serene, and with a painful jolt you realize how thin he has become. There are deep shadows beneath his eyes, and light glances sharply off the places where his bones were beginning to show.

"... how long ago was it?" You make a mental note to check on the herbalist when you next dream on Prospit.

"Can't tell, but quite some time. I've been trying to wake him, and nothing's working."

"It's like Rose all over again, isn't it?" You're actually not really sure what to do. "She just woke up on her own, I didn't do anything..."

"... oh. "John looks crestfallen.

You hesitate for a moment, then decide to trust your instincts. He is burning up, just as Rose had. Something hoots in the forest outside, an owl probably, followed by some avian beating its wings against the closed window. John gets up to open the glass panes, but as quickly as it came the bird flies off into the nighttime gloom.

"... oh god Jade what are you doing."

You awkwardly let your hand fall away as Dave stirs and pulls himself up into a sitting position. His eyes are tightly closed as he fumbles around for something - presumably his shades. You hand it to him, and he finally relaxes as their reflective surfaces slip over his eyes.

"What's wrong? Were you having nightmares? Are you alright?" Even though you know he needs time to recover, you find suppressing your anxiety quite difficult.

"... 's not important."

"Well of course it is!" You're suddenly indignant. "We were so worried -"

"Doesn't matter. I'm not going to sleep anymore tonight." He's definitely glaring at someone from under those shaded lenses, and you think you know who it is.

"But you need the rest!" John is obviously too derpy to understand the implied 'go away'.

"Whatever." He is about to say more, but any witty remark he composed is soon drowned by a bout of rather violent coughing.

You decide to pitch in and help. "John, go get him some water, won't you?"

"But - "

"Just go. I don't want to go out there, who knows what's lurking out there in the shadows! You're strong and brave and you've got wings now, you can go!"

"Jade -" He's confused now. Admittedly your half-baked justification was quite half-baked indeed.

"John, just go, please?"

"Fi-ine."